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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Growing discord between Democrats over the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas flared during the second day of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) summer meeting.
The tension came as a key DNC committee voted down a symbolic resolution calling for an arms embargo and suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which has long been the top American ally in the Middle East.
The DNC’s Resolutions Committee, in a separate vote, unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the party’s support for diversity, equity, and inclusion values amid a massive conservative backlash in recent years.
But grabbing the spotlight on Tuesday as more than 400 elected party officials from all 50 states and seven territories huddled in Minnesota’s largest city this week was the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the horrific Oct. 7, 2023, ambush by Hamas on Israel.
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A resolution introduced and supported by DNC chair Ken Martin that called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as well as unrestricted access for humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, was unanimously passed by the panel.
But the defeat of the second, more forceful resolution, which was introduced by 26-year-old Allison Minnerly, a new DNC member from Florida, sparked opposition among some members on the panel.
“It’s not enough,” DNC committee member from Washington D.C. Sophia Danenberg said, as she pointed to Martin’s resolution. “People want to hear a louder, stronger, statement.”
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Danenberg emphasized, “I do fear that we’re losing our future as the Democratic Party by not being courageous on this issue.”
Minutes later, following a private conversation between Martin and Minnerly, the DNC chair asked the committee to “withdraw my resolution so we can move united today and have the conversation.”
Martin’s stunning move was embraced by the committee.
Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed after Hamas ambushed them, with over 250 people taken hostage. In the nearly two years since the attack, over 60,000 Palestinians Israel’s ongoing military response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
And the showdown over the resolutions comes as the Democratic Party’s once nearly unshakable support for Israel has fractured amid the bloodshed. And concerns over the growing death toll among Palestinians by many in the party’s progressive base have soared this spring and summer, amid what many describe as a famine in Gaza. Recent polling indicates support for Israel’s continued military actions in Gaza is plummeting among Democrats.
The split in the party is partially between an older and more moderate wing that is cautious when it comes to blaming Israel, and a younger and more progressive wing that wants robust action in response to the human suffering in Gaza.
“One thing all of this room can agree on is that the crisis in Gaza is urgent,” Martin said as he introduced his resolution. This resolution is focused on the humanitarian crisis and makes clear that it must be addressed as the emergency that it is.”
And Martin’s resolution also called for “long-term peace through a two-state solution” between Israel and the Palestinians.
Minnerly said her more forceful resolution would “ensure that the Democratic Party will follow the will of our voters and call for an end to U.S. involvement in this particular tragedy. The resolution was drafted in consultation with Palestinians and many folks directly impacted by this ongoing humanitarian crisis.”
Martin, after calling for the withdrawal of his competing resolution, urged that Democrats to “move forward in a conversation on this as a party. We need to keep working through this. We have to find a path forward as a party, and we have to stay unified.”
And the chair said he would “appoint a committee or taskforce comprised of stakeholders on all sides of this to continue to have the conversation.”
INSERT MINNERLY CLIP HERE
But Minnerly, after the committee adjourned, told reporters, “I think it’s disappointing that the conversation is ending here today and that at this DNC meeting there’s going to be no further conversation on Gaza when it’s so over due and so critical to people.”
And Joe Salas, a DNC committee member from California and a Muslim American, told Fox News after the defeat of Minnerly’s resolution, that “I think there is a disconnect between the people on the committee and the average lock-stock-and-barrel voters who identify with the Democratic Party.”
While the outcome left many disappointed, the debate was orderly and there were no protests or disruptions of the committee meeting.
The Republican National Committee, following the meeting, blasted Martin.
“Weak DNC Chair Ken Martin was bullied by radical Antisemitic members to withdraw a resolution that recognizes Israel’s right to exist,” the RNC charged in a social media post.
The competing Gaza resolutions were among 19 resolutions voted on by the panel.
Among them was the DEI resolution, which called for “Affirming the American Values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
The author of the resolution, DNC member Bill Owen of Tennessee, a former state senator, said “to my Republican friends and fellow citizens…who profess to be active Christians, I remind them that D.E.I. is the very foundation of the Christian church. I get a little emotional on this, but Jesus loves little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white.”
President Donald Trump and Republicans, during last year’s campaign, repeatedly took aim at Democrats over their support for DEI efforts and transgender rights, turning them into political liabilities.
And following the Democrats’ setbacks in last year’s elections, when the party lost control of the White House, the Senate, and failed to win back the House majority, some in the party have second-guessed their long support for DEI and transgender rights.
The resolutions passed Tuesday by the panel will face votes on Wednesday by the entire DNC membership during the national party committee’s closing general session.
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